Chapter 2: Pop-Ups and Vocab Lists

As soon as I blocked Jason, the pop-up comments went wild.

[Wait, did I see that right? She blocked him? Wasn’t she supposed to be running after him, begging him to stay?]

[Poor guy, probably refreshing his phone every five seconds, waiting for her to text. Bet his world’s falling apart.]

[Honestly, she’s being a little much. The guy just wanted to see if she’d stick around, but she blocked him and even posted a story calling him out...]

[Just watch—once she sees him with the new girl, she’ll come crawling back.]

The words flickered at the edges of my vision, like a fever dream or maybe just lack of sleep. Was I hallucinating? I shook my head, almost expecting the comments to fall away like snowflakes.

I don’t know how I can see these pop-up comments.

But it’s not hard to guess the main characters they’re talking about are me and Jason.

Seriously, are these even normal people?

Jason was the one who made things public and broke his promise, so why am I supposed to run after him and beg?

It’s true—I liked Jason.

But my feelings were never an excuse for him to test me.

Thinking back to just a few days ago, I was still excitedly asking him what to wear for my birthday.

Our chat was full of my green texts.

Jason barely replied.

I always told myself he was busy with labs or homework.

Looking back now, it’s honestly pathetic. Maybe he never took me seriously at all.

My friends always say I’m clear-headed about love.

When I like someone, I go for it. When disappointment piles up, I walk away without looking back.

By now, a bunch of friends had already sent me screenshots of Jason’s Instagram story, asking what was going on.

Some even asked what my post meant, obviously fishing for gossip.

I didn’t reply to any of them.

That story was posted on impulse.

Now, I have no desire to delete it.

Whatever Jason thinks when he sees it—I don’t care anymore.

If he’s upset, let him call the cops.

The words almost made me laugh. Like he’d ever do something so dramatic, or like I’d ever be worth that kind of trouble. Still, the image of Jason calling the local police because I blocked him on Instagram was kind of funny. My lips curled into a small, sardonic smile.

I turned off my phone.

I stared at the flashcards, mouthing words like “ephemeral” and “obfuscate,” trying to fill the silence with something that actually mattered. Crying and sobbing has never been my style.

Getting too caught up in emotions just leaves you with a lump in your throat.

But memorizing vocab doesn’t, and it might actually help my future.